Responding in his regular weekly column to a complaint from someone named Dominique, who said they had been “royally messed around by my agency”, Madeley urged her to put off making a formal complaint “at least for a while” but to hold the threat in reserve depending on how the agency responds. 

Dominique wrote to Madeley after the recruitment agency concerned had placed her friend into a job that she had been going for but then refused to give her the referral fee because she had referred this friend to a different job. Madeley advised the aggrieved Dominique “not to go in all guns blazing”. Instead, while he recognised the anger she felt he urged her “to take a constructive line”.

“Tell them you are willing to stay your hand and put off lodging a formal complaint, at least for a while. But you expect to be put at the front of the queue for a suitable job immediately.

“In the meantime,” he continued, “in a spirit of goodwill, be prepared to negotiate a small reduction to the referral fee that you are owed given that the ‘friend’ you introduced to the agency (who I’m not sure has covered himself in glory over this by the way – but that’s for another day) wasn’t offered the post you referred him for.

Consolingly, Madeley explained that: “Something broadly similar happens at some point to most of us who spend our careers working for large organisations and agencies. It certainly has to me.”

If you are this agency, and Dominique contacts you, we would love to hear from you.

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